Unbelievable
by Thefaultinourstarfish
Summary: Alternate endings to scenes featuring Cress and Thorne from the four lovely books in the lunar chronicles!
1. Chapter 57 of Cress

**Hey! It's been a while! I've had some inspiration lately to write so here we go. I've missed creating stories and typing away, so, here I am! I hope you enjoy because this is my first fic in a whiiiile, so enjoy! I apologize for any OOC-ness.**

**I do not own anything.**

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_"I thought I'd done a pretty good job of clarifying all those other incidents, but if you have more, by all means, let me ruin those for you too."_

_She bit her lip._

_The rooftop. The kiss. He'd kept his promise. He'd given her a kiss worth waiting for because she was about to die—they were both about to die. She knew it had been a risk, and probably a stupid one. And that was the choice he'd made rather than let her die without experiencing that one perfect moment._

_She could think of nothing more heroic._

"Yes," she whispered softly, her cheeks heating. She didn't dare look at him. Thorne's eyebrows rose. Cress was thankful he couldn't see how red her face had gotten. His loss of vision hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be. He was constantly holding onto her for stability. And she had absolutely no problem with guiding him.

"Really? What?"

Cress gulped.

And then she remembered.

She remembered the years she spent by herself with only Little Cress for company. She remembered all those days after the name "Carswell Thorne" had flickered across the newsfeeds that she fantasized over how they would meet and fall in love. Their great epic romance would be one everyone would envy. She'd have a prince, a hero. Cress remembered the countless times Lady Sybil would arrive and how she would cower and fear the thaumaturge. She remembered never standing up for herself while Sybil would verbally abuse her. She never told Sybil how angry she made her and how she longed to see Earth and leave her satellite prison.

So, Cress decided to be brave.

She knew she would regret telling the Captain later on if she didn't tell him.

"You kept your promise," she said quietly. Her chin rested on her knees that were pulled to her chest. Her arms were wrapped securely around her legs. "You gave me a kiss—"her voice caught on that word; kiss "worth waiting for."

She watched him cautiously as he took in her words. Before she could read his expression she changed the subject. "Not only that, but you did lead me through a desert and saved my life more than once…"

"But I still didn't tell you the truth," Throne began. "And_ I_ was the reason your life was in jeopardy in the first place. I shouldn't have let Sybil get the better of me or trust the caravaners." He looked distressed. His hands ran through his hair. His beautiful, beautiful hair…

"After I got you into all of this trouble, you probably don't still think you're in love with me, right?"

Cress sucked in a breath.

Staying brave, staying brave…

After a moment of silence while she tried to find the words to say, she took a deep breath. What's the worst that could happen? Rejection couldn't hurt as bad as the net-dramas made it out to be…

"Y-You aren't the person I thought you were when I discovered all those things about you on the net. I had a crush on you before we had even met, and I made you out to be a hero that you don't think you are. But, in my eyes, you still are…my hero, that is. You came for me when I was taken and carried me when I was sick, even though you couldn't see. You made sure I had enough water and protected me from Sybil's guards… I can never thank you enough, Captain. Things have cha-"

"Carswell."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't call me Captain. Everyone else should call me Captain. Or Thorne. But I want you to call me Carswell." His head was tilted towards her, and his bandana still hung around his neck. His fingers fiddled with it absently as he leaned forward in his seat, elbows resting on his knees. His eyes scanned the general area she was in, finally stopping on the wall just above her. Cress found herself lost in his eyes; bright and vibrant and blue.

"Carswell," she tested, the name like honey on her lips. His mouth tipped up on one side, that grin lighting up his face. He had asked her to call her by his real name, which no one else did. It felt very personal, maybe even intimate. Maybe she was making something out of nothing, but it seemed to be a big deal.

"Cress, I'm sorry for all that has happened. For finally getting to be free and live your life you haven't gotten to enjoy much since you left the satellite. I think you're a sweet girl, but—"

"Carswell?"

Thorne swallowed. "Yes?"

Cress shook. She bit her lip, clasping her hands tight as she lowered her legs, her blue dress spilling around her. Her feet dangled just above the floor in the chair, so she scooted forward so they touched the ground. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she breathed a little faster. The air in the room seemed to be tense and electric, her nerves on edge. She looked at her shoes, at him, and her hands, at him.

Carswell's chin rested on his hands. He was leaning far enough forward that if she wanted to reach out and touch him, it would be easy, so very easy. And she longed to touch his cheek, his nose, his forehead, and his lips. Just once more… And then it happened.

"I'm in love with you."

Word vomit.

Cress immediately regretted the words. She wished she could pull those five little words out of his brain and throw them away. Stop on them, burn them, rip them apart. But they had escaped from her lips though she had protested. They hung in the air for a long moment. She thought her cheeks would burn off from how hot they had become. Her hands continued to shake though she squeezed them together tightly.

When Cress dared to steal a glance at him, he looked…absent, thoughtful. He was obviously contemplating the words she had said, tossing them around in his head to see how he liked them. Whilst he sat, silent, her mouth opened and closed. Should she apologize? Leave the room? The longer the silence grew, the more her heart sank. Her chest slowly ached. Cress felt her eyes burn, threatening to spill, but she took a deep breath and held it in. She held it in and blinked her eyes tightly and wiped away the tears and smoothed her dress and looked back up at him.

"Come here."

Cress sucked in a breath.

"What?" her voice was barely a whisper. Before she could say another word his hands had found hers. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, and she watched his hands as they gingerly tugged her forward.

Thorne had a lot of experience in this area, as Cress did not. He had kissed her in the midst of a battle. They had a moment of passion on a roof as bullets flew by and blood was spilled. But now, the room was empty, no one was around, and it was just Cress and Thorne; Cress and Carswell.

His face was very, very close to hers now. Her breath had disappeared, flittered away into the air. One of his hands moved to touch her face, sending shivers down her spine. She felt like electricity had shot through his skin to hers. The silent tension was unbearable.

Her eyes moved up and down his face, trying not to land on his lips. But they did, of course. And she felt crazy. This was crazy, absolutely crazy…Carswell Thorne was centimeters from her face and she had forgotten how to breathe, how to move, how to function.

Cress could just see it happening, her moving in a little closer, his arms snaking around her waist, hers wrapping around his neck, leaning forward…closer, closer…

"What color are your eyes?"

His question snapped her back from her reverie. She blinked and remembered to inhale and exhale.

"I didn't get to see them more than once or twice before I went kind of blind."

Cress moved her hands up to his face, her thumbs brushing over his cheeks. He inhaled deeply, leaning into her touch.

"They're blue." She said, quietly. His lips perked up in a smile.

"Blue," he repeated. He twirled a piece of her short, uneven hair in between his forefinger and thumb. His eyes lit up, matching his smile. Cress felt her heart melting, dripping all over her features. She adored him.

His other hand moved to her cheek as he pulled her closer to him, their noses bumping together. Cress blushed and smiled weakly, and Thorne chuckled lightly. She noticed a faint blush across his cheeks, and smiled even more. He scratched at the back of his neck, leaning away from her.

And Cress deflated.

"I'm sorry," he laughed again, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what I'm doing. These eye drops must be affecting my brain or something. I shouldn't have insinuated anything. We have work to do and—"

And then, she did it.

Their lips collided in an instant. Cress balled her fists in his shirt, holding his face to hers. Thorne hadn't finished his sentence and was shocked, not exactly prepared, in that moment at least. He was fully prepared the moment beforehand, though…

Cress was entirely ready for him to pull away, to go on about how wrong she was to do this, to push her and walk right out of the room.

But he relaxed. And he kissed her right back.

Thorne lifted her into his lap, and wrapped his arms securely around her waist. Cress kept her hands tight in his shirt, holding fast. She smiled in this kiss, this perfect, unbelievable kiss…

"Cress! Captai—"

Cress and Thorne jumped apart immediately as Iko came into the room, her escort droid body almost entirely fixed. She was giddy, laughing.

"Well, when you two are finished, we're going to have dinner. Cinder owes me twenty univs…" she muttered as she exited the deck.

Cress was bright red, and she stood quickly, helping Thorne to his feet also. She gave him his cane and they headed towards the door. Just as they were walking through the doorway, Thorne grabbed her hand and spun her towards him, reaching down and placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Come see me after dinner, Cress."

Her eyes stayed wide open as she stared at his now bandana covered face.

Her mouth hung open before she said, "Alright, Carswell."

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**Woo! Thanks for reading! Give me ideas on more one-shots…? Maybe? Eh? Hopefully we'll meet again soon! :)**


	2. Chapter 23 of Cress

**A/N: SO! I was asked to continue this story, but I decided to do something a little different. Since I just changed the original story around a little bit from the last chapter, I decided that that is what this will be! My own version of how the story could have gone, in a more, lovey-dovey fluffier way. I hope you enjoy this one! It is a twist on chapter 23 of Cress! SO, send me requests for what parts of the books you would like to have a different ending to, and I will write it for you! Enjoy, lovelies**

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_He crouched close to her and felt for her face. "I promise, I will not let you die without being kissed."_

"_I'm dying now."_

"_You are not dying."_

"I see the bright light…It's coming closer…" Cress squinted her eyes to be more convincing, and then she remembered that he couldn't even see her.

"Cress. We need to keep moving, this isn't funny…" He trailed off as her hand touched his cheek gently, running her thumb across his cheek bone, almost in awe of him.

"Captain?" her voice came out almost like nothing, it was so soft. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she took the time to realize what exactly was happening.

She was stranded in the middle of the desert, with a fever and no shoes, with Carswell Thorne holding her.

She continued to run her thumb across his cheek and he moved his hand to grab hers and move it off of his face.

"Yes?"

Cress took a shuddering breath. She leaned a lot closer to him; shocked by her sudden desire to be so much closer to him…They could hear each other's breathing, feel each other's breath. She knew from watching him on the netscreens that she wanted to be with him. He was like some far off and distant dream, someone she would always strive for. She never thought she would be alone with him, especially in this situation, ever.

"I know I have a fever and that I'm not dying," she swallowed, her mouth drier than she thought was possible. "but will you please kiss me?"

He still held her hand in one of his gently, and her other hand was still on his chest, feeling his heart beats. Three beats until he let go of her hand and put both of his onto her cheeks. She sucked in a quick breath.

"Cress, we have to keep moving—"

"Pretend with me," she whispered.

"What?"

"Can we just pretend that we aren't here? That you can see and that I'm not sick and that we are together and happy and living out the romance that we are destined to have?" Cress couldn't tell if she was talking crazy because of the fever, her lack of sleep, or because of her love for him.

"Cress, I'm serious—" Thorne let go of her and she grabbed his hands again, weakly.

"Sweetie," she took a deep breath, feeling dizzy. "I've missed you so much." She leaned closer to him, yawning and then shutting her eyes briefly. She was silent for a moment as she began to doze off, and then Thorne pulled her close. He lifted her chin up towards his, sending warmth throughout her body. His touch was almost electric.

Cress opened her eyes, looking at his out-of-focus ones. They were still that incredibly bright shade of blue, and they shined in the moonlight. His mouth his mouth his mouth puckered, and then he realized that he couldn't just lean in and kiss her. He felt her face and then he laughed.

"I can't see you, sunshine. You're going to have to help me out here."

Cress blushed but her heart soared. Her head became less fuzzy as she leaned up and planted a soft kiss onto his lips.

It wasn't what she imagined at all. She was expecting fireworks to go off—or a gospel choir to start singing. She thought they she would drop dead by the power that was in the kiss of Carswell Thorne. But this kiss, if you could even call it that, was nothing like how she had imagined it.

Both of their lips were dry and chapped from the hot and dry desert air, so placing each other's lips together wasn't much of a "fun" activity. It was almost painful, really. No fireworks or choirs, sadly. They both let it end quickly, realizing that it wasn't time for this. Thorne had told her that they needed to get going, and that they needed to move while the air was cooler. Cress felt like an idiot now, pulling away from him and standing up with her shaky legs. What was she thinking? Kissing him? In the middle of the desert? "Pretending"? Had she gone mad?

She helped Thorne up to his feet and held his arm as they began to walk.

"I'm sorry, Captain," Cress said quietly, the embarrassment still relevant.

"It's fine, Cress. I'm sorry my lips weren't as soft and juicy as they usually are…" He said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm sorry for not listening to you…" Cress looked down at her feet, still wrapped in towels. She was so ashamed of herself. She felt like a pre-mature girl that was "in love" with an older boy. She felt foolish and unwanted. He had been with lots of girls in his lifetime, and he was so experienced and gorgeous… Why on earth would he decide to take a chance on the girl her found in the satellite?

"It's fine, Cress. No worries. Wait until we're both hydrated and healthy and not at risk of dying all alone in the middle of a desert, okay?" He kissed the top of her head and they continued on their way towards whatever they could find out in the middle of this wasteland.

"Maybe after we really kiss we'll see if your fate theory with us is actually true."

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**YAY! I hope you liked it. This wasn't my best work, but eh. What can you do? Suggest more parts of the series to change! Review, my lovelies!**


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